So Frankenstein is kinda my thing, I’m obsessed with the story, for me it is just everything. And obviously since it is such a classic there have been many movie adaptations as well as just movies inspired by the original story. I’ve not seen every movie inspired by Frankenstein, but I have seen a lot of them since I really love the narrative. Most recently I saw The Bride, directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal and I just feel the need now to talk about why I feel that it is the most disrespectful and distasteful film I’ve seen made about Frankenstein because It’s been a couple days since I saw the film, and the more I think about it, the more upset I get.
I’ll start by listening off the positives of the film which are unfortunately few. I do think this film is unique and in a time where most of what we get is sequels and remakes, I think it’s always good to see something that feels original (original doesn’t mean good). I also thought with what they were given the cast did an amazing job, in fact I think that’s kinda the worse part, literally everyone except the writer seems to have done a fantastic job, it’s unfortunate the writing is so bad it ruins the film completely for me.
(I think the best way to explain why this makes me so angry is to compare it with the original story, as well as the original bride of Frankenstein movie.)
In the first scene they bring up Mary Shelley and tell you that they know what she was trying to say better then she did, an odd choice made even odder since this was done similarly in a much more respectful way in the Original Bride of Frankenstein. The difference is that in the original, they stated specifically that this was just a continuation of the story, not some weird re-write of the original Frankenstein story. This leads into the issue which makes it all 1000x worse, the choice to have Frankenstein lie to the bride about who she is and where she came from, giving very much overboard from 1987. This is the main decision that makes me see red, let me break it down:
Mary Shelley wrote a story about what it means to feel like a monster, to feel alone in the world with no one who sympathizes for you or even gives you a chance, to want nothing more than for someone to understand you. In the book and in the Bride of Frankenstein it isn’t Frankenstein who refers to her as the bride, he simply wants a ‘companion’ or ‘friend’ -> in this movie Frankenstein just wants to get married for some reason, who knows why because by having him lie to her and tell her she was just in an accident and they were previously engaged, he takes away the ability for her to understand him.
In the original Bride of Frankenstein, the movie ends because when Frankenstein realizes she’s still scared of him, he then has to realize that he’s done exactly what was done to him and by killing them both he is trying to fix it, not wanting her to feel the same way he does since he believes she will be treated just as cruelly as he was -> when Frankenstein lies to her in this one, not only is he taking away his opportunity for understanding, he’s also taking away her agency. He actively lies to her and essentially brainwashes her into a relationship with him
Mary Shelley Wrote Frankenstein around the idea that monsters are made, and The Bride says they are born (and they try to say that’s what Mary Shelley was really trying to say which just sounds like really shitty misunderstood mansplaining)